As an occupation, nursing is perceived by some as an emergent profession and by others as a managed service. For the former group, the key to quality improvement in nursing is to develop and promote that professionalism. For the latter group, the success of nursing as an occupation depends on its ability to colonise senior positions within the management hierarchy of health services.

This text takes a fresh view on the debate at the heart of nursing. It considers the future for nursing within health care and social care and how it needs to adjust to its changing status and power in the context of social and health policy.

The book is organised into four sections. The first sets forth an ideal vision of nursing as a profession with 'caring' as its core feature. The second section outlines threats to nursing as a caring profession posed by a managerial agenda within health care and social care services. The third and fourth sections reconsider the ideals and realities of professional nursing in the context of managerialism and the changing culture of health care provision.

This book makes a major contribution to current thinking about the nature of nursing as an occupation and its relevance and particular contribution to human well being. It should find a wide and appreciative audience among nurses and students, as well as other health care and social care professionals, and those involved in health service planning.